‘Proud’ Sinner wins comfortably in Monte Carlo to make quarter-finals, Rune also wins

Jannik Sinner made his way past Jan-Lennard Struff with relative ease at the Monte Carlo Masters, winning 6-4 6-2. The Italian will face Holger Rune in the quarter-finals, after the Dane toughed out a lengthy three-set win over Grigor Dimitrov.

Sinner started steadily, taking advantage of Struff’s low first-serve percentage to find his way into the German’s service games. They did exchange breaks of serve early in the first set, only for Sinner to up the ante when it mattered and break for a 5-4 lead before serving out the set comfortably.

How he would fare on the clay was of interest, but the Italian has made it clear he is every bit as big a threat on the dirt as he is the hard courts, even if Struff did put up a slightly sterner test than Korda managed. But the German was powerless against some of Sinner’s shot making, including a screamer of a forehand winner on the run early in the second set.

Sinner motored after going up an early break in the second set, closing out the match for the loss of just six games in one hour and 17 minutes in what became a rather routine win, with Struff’s error counting mounting as the match progressed and the pressure grew.

“I think for sure the service games were important, I broke him early and then he broke me back and this can change the momentum,” Sinner said. “For sure I can be proud, a very different match up to the first round, I’m just very happy to be in the next round..

“It’s great for me, Italian tennis is growing – I think that’s the most important part, trying to make tennis in Italy bigger, it’s just great to be part of this event and everything that is going on. I just try to make the best out of it so I can be happy.”

Sinner has lost just the one match this season, his semi-final in Indian Wells against Carlos Alcaraz. The last time he dropped a set was against Tallon Griekspoor in the round of 32 in Miami, since then winning his last 14 sets; none of his opponents even managing to take him to a tie-break.

Sinner’s opponent in the quarter-finals will be Rune, the two having met here last year in the semi-finals after the Dane outlasted Dimitrov in three sets 7-6(9) 3-6 7-6(2).

Rune took the incredibly tight opening set against the Bulgarian in a tie-break 11-9, winning 51 points to his opponent’s 52 – but winning the one that mattered. A fired up Dimitrov fought back in the second set, taking it 6-3. With some exceptional rallies and incredible shot making, this match was turning into a battle for the ages before Rune called for the trainer.

The issue seemed to be with his right-hand side, only for the Dane to later be seen holding his wrist. Whatever the problem, it did seem to distract Rune in that second set but did not appear to be as much of an issue in the third.

The quality on show was even more impressive considering both players had to come back and finish their second-round matches earlier in the day. With the shadows lengthening, the final set was also a tight affair, Rune coming forward and keen to return inside the baseline; Dimitrov’s backhand firing ominously well.

In the end, it needed a tie-break to split the two players, with Rune racing to a 4-0 lead only to be pegged back by an unflappable Dimitrov. But having had to fight so hard to stay in the match – saving match points along the way – with all the momentum in the Bulgarian’s corner towards the end of the third set, Rune was not to be undone. He took the final set tie-break 7-2 in what he called “a great match.”

“It was tough physically, I had a match earlier so I played five sets today so it was brutal, but good preparation for the Grand Slams,” said the Dane. “I was very worried [about my injury] as it started to pull on the serve, so we have to see – I need to check with my physio but most of all I’m extremely happy, Grigor is an extremely talented player so to share a court with him is amazing.”